A surprisingly mild evening led 9 Goodgymmers to the Greenhouse Project, a multicultural play and arts project on Lodge Lane in Liverpool. Sophie & Aatefa ran and beat everyone else to the task, arriving first, whilst most of us took a more leisurely approach and walked to the task. We were pleased to welcome Michelle back who returned for her second task - great to see you again Michelle! And our Goodgymmer of honour, Jo, quite rightly arrived on a chariot – well, a bike – and we headed inside for our task briefing, introductions and announcements.

And what an announcement we had! This evening marked a phenomenal achievement from Jo – it was her 200th task! Jo joined Goodgym in 2018 so has been a dedicated member for over 8 fantastic years. And it’s a family affair, both Jo’s daughter Roz and son Ben are members, and have done tasks together with Jo, Ben having joined the Ealing chapter too. And Goodgym is just one feather in Jo’s many-feathered-cap, she’s a devoted volunteer and dedicates time to other organisations including but not limited to Foodcycle, providing free community meals and reducing food waste. The team presented Jo with a card, some gifts to take home, and some chocolate pastries to share at the end of the task in her honour.

After our congratulations it was time to dive in. This time our task was split in 2: covering the fence with tarp to provide some much needed privacy to the children’s garden, and adding leaves back on to the plastic bushes which decorate the yard. Sophie gave some great ideas on technique for covering the fence before heading over with the team to the bushes, and Naser, Jo and I worked on the fence. Once we’d established approach, which involved weaving the tarp at intervals to help keep it in place, and attaching from the top at regular intervals, it was steady work to cover the whole thing. Jo’s idea of how to weave ended up being exactly the right decision and soon the fence looked great, secure and private.

The leaf task sounds unusual (putting leaves back on a bush?!) and is surprisingly therapeutic. The little leaves on the plastic bush can fall off, so our job was to reattach them so it continues to look nice and full and doesn’t have empty patches. With 6 pairs of hands working methodically, the bushes were soon returned to their former glory.

After admiring the result of our hard work, we headed inside for the group photo and the all important chocolate pastries to celebrate our Bicentenarian Jo. Much to our surprise we were then presented with a very kind card from the Greenhouse Project, thanking us for our hard work and support over the years. This was a lovely gesture and we were very touched to receive it. We had a quick debrief, with a busy Saturday coming up with Parkrun Sticker Saturday, followed by a lovely task at the Bombed out Church planting daffodil bulbs to prepare for a beautiful display in Spring. And it was time to head off back into the mild evening for home. A nice task where we could clearly see the impact we’ve made in such a short space of time, and a great opportunity to celebrate our lovely Jo and her dedication. Huge well done and congratulations Jo, what a huge number of hours doing good things for the community in Liverpool.

Chappell Roan might’ve sung about a pink pony club but she’s obviously never been to Park Palace Ponies on the Dingle where the residents are gorgeous and utterly strokeable. We were lucky enough to have this pleasure tonight in our very first task at this special place. It was a night of firsts as Aatefa did her first turn as run leader from the suitcases. She did this adeptly with runners old and new, assisted by experienced run leader Liam. It was a first for Linda who ran from suitcases, it was a first for goodgym tourist, Steph from Ealing who also ran and it was a first for Maryna who cycled. Aatefa, Liam, Linda, Steph, Laura and Sophie joined Myself, Nasser and Bekah outside the venue. Heetu and Maryna followed shortly after. Faye from Park Palace ponies gave us our instructions and directed us to the tools, past the ponies in their sheds who got royally fussed over. They were so beautiful and very friendly. Bekah organised this session and knows all the ponies by name, there were six in total, Malu, Jessie, Moses & Deejay were the ones I remember but I’ll have to namecheck with Bekah for all six. Our task was to level out the indoor riding arena. As Faye explained, usually this would be the job of a tractor but as this is a small city based charity there are no such options so it was down to us with rakes and forks to bring the sand from the sides and level out the area. The building used to be a theatre so has a very ornate ceiling and some of the original features are still visible but now it is a venue where children from the city can learn to ride and trot around this sandpit riding arena. There was some discussion over the difference between a horse and a pony; for clarification, a pony is a small horse but not a baby one. We finished slightly early but made that time up by going for a second fuss of the ponies, we had to get our group shot with a pony and Nasser has the skills to get that shot. Steph also thought of a great pun for the report; ‘Only Fools and Ponies’. And as the lyrics of that title song state - ‘why do only fools and horses work?’ Well in our case it’s because we love it! Can’t wait to go back and support this amazing charity again.

The evening began at Suitcases, where seven GoodGymers gathered before heading to Princes Park. Sophie, who was leading the run, welcomed everyone and gave a particularly warm welcome to our two new members, Matt and Charles, before the group set off.

With Sophie leading the way, seven members ran to the task while the others made their way to the park separately. By the time everyone arrived, 13 GoodGymers were together and ready for another GoodGym session.

After a few introductions, Kate from Friends of Princes Park welcomed the group and talked us through the evening’s task, along with the important safety points before we got started.

Our work was centred around the paths near the island and the Nelson Mandela Memorial. The task involved trimming back overgrown trees and branches, raking leaves and debris, clearing grass and vegetation, and brushing the paths. It was satisfying to see the difference as we worked along the paths, making them clearer, tidier and more accessible for park visitors.

The shorter days and darker evenings also reminded us that summer is now behind us. It was a timely opportunity to check our headtorches and running lights, recharge them and make sure they were ready for the darker months ahead, and, of course, we put them to good use during the evening.

There was a wonderfully relaxed and friendly atmosphere throughout the session. Everyone worked together, chatted along the way and happily got stuck into the task. The combination of practical work, fresh air and good company made the evening pass quickly.

Moonraking beneath the night sky

Then came one of those little moments that made the evening memorable.

As we worked, the moon rose beautifully above Princes Park, illuminating the evening sky. With our rakes in hand and the moon shining overhead, we had come to clear the paths but it felt as though we were Moonraking beneath the night sky.

It was a fitting name for an evening that brought together community work, exercise and a beautiful autumn sky. Sometimes it is the simplest moments that make a GoodGym session particularly special.

There was another reason to celebrate too: Dinacompleted her 10th GoodGym session! A fantastic milestone, congratulations, Dina!

It was a wonderful evening of running, volunteering, friendship and community spirit, with a little moonlight magic along the way.

A very warm welcome to Mattand Charles, congratulations to Dina on reaching her 10th session, and a heartfelt thank you to everyone who came along and contributed to the evening. And, of course, thank you to Friends of Princes Park for giving us the opportunity to help care for this much-loved community space.

Thirteen GoodGymers, a few rakes, a beautiful moon and one memorable evening of Moonraking.

It was a drizzly morning with all the hallmarks of an autumnal one but minus golden leaves and dropped temperature. It was still so mild for September and after all the rain the once bleached grass was back to healthy bright green. I saw Suren at the meeting point, it was good to meet up, I hadn’t seen him for a couple of months. Then Bekah joined us and we saw Sophie walking up. We walked over to the start line and got instruction from a very competent shouter of a martial, I have never heard someone project so well across a large crowd! There must’ve been about 300 people it was really crowded considering the recent bad weather. I ran/walked a lap and a half and then bowed out to wait for the others. Sophie had finished around 27mins, then we saw Aatefa, then Leo at a respectable 33mins. Bekah was not so happy with her finish time but this is the big build up for her now to running the London marathon next April so very soon our park run will literally be a walk in the park for her. Amina said she’d run/walked and couldn’t join us for breakfast but wanted to get in the picture as proof of her attendance for the coveted sticker. Suren must have run and left as we couldn’t find him but he had told me at the start that he wasn’t joining for breakfast. We got a message from sticker guardian Steph that she had reserved a table at our new breakfast spot, Golden Brunch. Myself, Leo, Bekah and Aatefa walked from the park to join her. The food was amazing! Very generous portions, a good variety and great quality. Possibly a contender for our new favourite. Then we all went our separate ways in the rain.